The specialty pinxtos here at Gatz was a piece of cod cooked in olive oil. The oil turned a bit…read morebuttery from the extra fat of the fish and then they put two small pieces of hot pepper on top. Oh, my. Delicious! They're very proud of their Michelin mentions, as they should be.

Items Selected: Morcilla Pepper Omelette…read moreSalt Cod with Aoili Ham, Idiazabal, Tomato Stack Traditional Torta Fried Foie Gras Mushroom Sandwich with Pepper Puree Iberico Sandwich "Fresh Cheese and Cepes" Baccala Stuffed Pepper Located in old town, tucked away on Santa Maria Kalea just feet from a shopping district transformed to a Christmas wonderland just one week thereafter, Bar Gatz is considered by many to be 'the' locals only place for the Basque style of tapas known as pintxos, and arriving in Bilbao far later than originally scheduled it was just prior to midnight before I entered the small space, a dearth of seating okay for legs confined to a plane for the past twelve hours while English friendly service made navigating the selections a breeze. Trending more traditional than spots nearby with a vibe that seemed well suited to local twenty-somethings out for late night fun a Saturday, it was with a plate in hand that a dozen or so plates were examined and understanding most of the Spanish descriptions with a few simple questions answered a total of eight items were selected, the total bill just €14 including a €1.50 miniature bottle of water. Avoiding options that seemed to have been sitting out, though the barman did offer to rewarm anything I'd like, dining began with two plates of three and focusing mostly on bold flavors traditional to the region and especially those made in house both the Morcilla and Pepper Omelette as well as the creamy-meets-crunchy Fried Foie Gras Mushroom Sandwich were precisely what I'd been hoping for while the traditional torta immediately left me laughing at high prices of inferior versions back home, the salt cod unfortunately a bit masked by the sauce while both ham selections benefited from the quality of the local products, a theme seen throughout the trip. Informed that desserts are not offered, but that a few more hot items were set to come out before the kitchen closed for the night, suffice it to say that I was fortunate to stick around chatting with a young couple happy to work on their limited English while teaching me some Spanish, for as much as those lesson really did not seem to last more than one hour the memories of fresh cheese melted amidst mushrooms and the intense flavor of a fried red pepper filled with creamy baccala proved far more resonant, the later possibly the most memorable bite of salt cod throughout the week-long visit.